Last Action Hero (soundtrack)

(pictured in 1988) were the only performers to include two songs on the soundtrack The Last Action Hero: Music from the Original Motion Picture soundtrack features twelve tracks. Some artists specifically wrote premiere compositions for it, including "Big Gun" by AC/DC, "Real World" by Queensrÿche, and "Last Action Hero" by Tesla. "Real World" was created based on suggestions from Michael Kamen, who was friends with the members of Queensrÿche and had previously collaborated with them on their debut album The Warning (1984) and the single "Silent Lucidity" (1990). Guitarist Michael Wilton admitted that: "Kamen told us he wanted a real haunting ballad, but nothing too sentimental. He also said the song should start slow, then finally break loose and really hit hard." Meanwhile, Tommy Skeoch from Tesla argued that "it was actually the third or fourth time we were asked to do a movie, but it finally worked out this time. When we got the call about the movie, I felt good about it from the start. We were already writing songs for our next album [Bust a Nut, 1994], but we thought, why not write a song, it's just the right scenario. We wrote it in an hour and a half." Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian admitted that the track "Poison My Eyes" came from the sessions for the band's sixth studio album Sound of White Noise (1993) – "When we were asked to do the soundtrack, we went back, changed the vocals again, and remixed the song. Then it sounded as good as everything on 'Sound of White Noise', so we knew it would be good for the soundtrack." Marty Friedman recalled: "We didn't want to just make a 'one-off' movie song, so we took the opportunity to play another Megadeth track. We worked on 'Angry Again' with the mindset that it was as important as 'Symphony of Destruction' or 'Sweating Bullets'." While Def Leppard was busy touring, they sent a sketch of the song "Two Steps Behind", which acoustic version had appeared on the B-side of the single "Make Love Like a Man" a year earlier. Kamen added orchestral strings to the composition. The track "Swim" had appeared a few weeks earlier on Fishbone's album ''Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe''. == Release and promotion ==

The first single promoting the soundtrack was "Big Gun" by AC/DC, released on May 24. The music video was directed by David Mallet, The premiere of Last Action Hero: Music from the Original Motion Picture took place on June 8. The album also included a live version of the song "Dream On" by Aerosmith, recorded during the MTV 10th Anniversary Special in 1991, where it was performed with an orchestra conducted by Kamen. Expanding the promotional campaign, Columbia and Sony partnered with the fast-food chain Burger King and the retail chain Musicland, which distributed tray liners with discount coupons for purchasing the album and other movie-related merchandise at Sam Goody, Musicland, and Suncoast stores. == Reception ==

Critical The soundtrack, unlike the film, which received negative reviews, turned out to be a success. Jason Birchmeier from AllMusic rated the soundtrack 4.5 stars out of 5, arguing: "The film soundtrack has significant lasting value, serving as a wonderful snapshot of the turbulent hard rock scene of the early '90s." The author pointed out that the greatest strength of the album is its diversity. By July 10, it had risen to the 7th position. Besides the United States, it also reached the 7th spot on the New Zealand Top 40 Albums Chart. On August 10, after reaching the threshold of 500,000 copies sold in the United States, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Two weeks later, on August 24, the album surpassed one million copies sold, earning it a platinum certification from the RIAA. == Track list ==

Based on liner notes: Production • Executive producer: Don Ienner • Mastering: Eddy Schreyer at Future Disc, Hollywood Graphic design • Design: Doug Erb • Art director: Mary Maurer == Charts ==